Buckle



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE P. YWOODRUFF, OF WATERTOWN, CONNECTICUT.

BUCKLE.

Specification `of Letters Patent No.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE P. WOODRUFF, of Watertown, in the county of Litchfield and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Buckles for Suspenders and for other Purposes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of my said invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 represents a face view of my improved buckle applied to a suspender strap, Fig. 2 is a back view of the same, Fig. 3 a cross section of the same, Fig. l a view of the tongue showing its shape before it is bent, and Fig. 5 represents an end view of the tongue as it is bent before applying it to the bow.

The object of my invention is to secure the buckle to the strap without sewing or riveting the latter upon the buckle, and to dispense with the loop to which the strap is generally secured.; my invention consists in constructing the tongue of the buckle and in applying it to the bow thereof in such manner that the strap is eectually gripped and secured between the tongue and the bow at the hinge of the buckle.

My improved buckle, as represented in the accompanying drawing, consists of only two parts, the bow A and the tongue B. The bow A is formed in the usual manner, and in its formation has the str ap given to it which it is to preserve when the tongue has been applied to it. The tongue is punched out of a piece of sheet metal in such manner that the prongs, a, a, which are to enter and hold the loose strap are all connected by a stock l), which is bent upon the bow to form the hinge on which the tongue turns. In

cutting out, the tongue, portions c, c, of the sheet metal are left at the base of the prongs, and as these portions are separated by slits from the prongs they form a series of 16,347, dated January 6, 1857.

flaps which are turned over upon the stock so as to give it the shape of a pipe which has been split longitudinally and opened.

In putting the tongue and the bow together the end of the strap D is first turned' over the bow in the same manner that it would be if applied to a common harness buckle; the tongue is then placed upon the strap, its pipe-formed stock thus inclosing both the strap and the bow. The whole is submitted to the action of a press by which the adjacent edges of the stock ofthe tongue are caused to approach each other as shown in Fig. 3; so as to grip the strap and secure it both to the tongue and to the bow. The strap is thus secured to the buckle in the act of putting the tongue and bow together, and the sewing or riveting of the strap is dispensed with; the loop or piece of metal to which the strap is usually made fast is also dispensed with, as the strap is secured in the hinge of the buckle. Moreover the buckle is formed of only two pieces which are readily formed by machinery, so that it can be manufactured at a low rate, while its neatness of finish and the strength of the attachment of the strap cause it to be a desirable article in the market.

Having thus described my improved buckle what I claim as my invention, and desire secure by Letters Patent, is

Constructing and combining together the bow and the tongue of a buckle in such manner that the strap is secured between the two at the hinge of the buckle substantially as herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 10th day of December 1856.

GEORGE P. VOODRUFF.

Vitnesses:

S. A. MERwiN, S. L. IVARREN. 

